Burst Angel
Publisher
Funimation / MVM
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
24 episodes / 24 minutes
Year
2004
Burst Angel Volume 1: Death's Angel
By otaku_kei
17th Dec 05  Girls with guns! Its become its very own sub-genre within anime and no studio does it quite as well as Gonzo Digimation! From Kiddy Grade to Chrono Crusade this studio has made a name for itself with busty maidens with really big hand cannons! And once again this studio returns to a formula that has proved repeatedly successful for them. In a world where carrying a gun is legal and robots are commonly used in crime - a new-breed of mercenary has arisen: hard-hearted, fearless, underdressed and well endowed! Jo and her mecha armour Django are all set to take down the scum of Tokyo! So introductory volume time –be prepared for a cursory introduction to each character, a few small insights into what makes them tick and shedloads of action to cover for a lack of real plot at this point. In brief: Jo and her cohorts are bounty hunters who specialise in taking out the nasty people of the world, whilst operating outside the parameters of the law. The frequent run-ins with the brutal future police department RAPT are there to show how good and honourable these girls are in comparison to the corrupt authorities. Add in a young male cook who is clearly out of his depth around all the sexy ladies with their big guns and you get the rather obvious light relief of the show. But what is the show all about? Well at this point it I pretty much anyone guess. It is quite clear that the girls are not all they seem, and clearly each will have a history to tell. Also the brutal police force I’m sure will have a wider role to play later in this series. But the inevitable predictability of opening volumes very rarely changes and these four episodes focus all on introducing these characters of the show giving us a healthy dose of action so that we come back, and sod all about building a plot thread. But as far as entertainment value goes this show does please! If it’s the fan-service eye candy, or the mecha battles this show is enjoyable on a very simple visual level. Whilst I may have not found it as instantly accessible as Kiddy Grade, or plot heavy as Chrono Crusade, as smart and sassy as Gunsmith Cats or as artistic and thoughtful as Noir this show has enough pazazz and heart to make for a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours. Later volumes will fill in all the details these episodes are all about big explosions, bigger thrills and teensie-weensie underwear!
R2 DVD Notes
Features: English Language 5.1; Japanese Language 2.0; English Language Subtitles; Textless Opening and Closing; Radio Show Selections; MVM Trailers
Release information: COMING SOON - 9th Januuary 2006
Notes: MVM once again deliver a high quality release demonstrating once again the benefits that have come from having Madman Entertainment encode all their DVD's. The extras are entertaining enough but never really going to keep you coming back for more.
-- otaku_kei 17th Dec 05
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